Once development was ended…in the adult centers, the nerve paths are something fixed and immutable. Everything may die, nothing may be regenerated. It is for the science of the future to change, if possible, this harsh decree. -Santiago Ramón y Cajal
Cajal noted the limited regenerative capacity of mammals over 100 years ago. Yet, we as scientists still have a limited understanding of how to promote regeneration in the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS).
The major goal of our lab is to understand the environment necessary to promote regeneration within the adult CNS.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Immune Cell Function After Spinal Cord Injury
To understand what makes the zebrafish immune system so uniquely competent to support regeneration, we take a loss-of-function approach to explore genes and pathways necessary for the recovery of swim function after spinal cord injury. Here, we use programmable nucleases (CRISPR/Cas9) to target genes upregulated after spinal cord injury and test whether fish deficient in these genes recover following spinal cord transection.
Describing Fundamental Neuroimmunology
We have barely scratched the surface of what cells are driving regeneration in nervous system. We are applying new tools and protocols to understand fundamental differences between regenerative and non-regenerative species.
Environmental Impacts on Microglial Identity
When we think about immune cells, we consider them as short-lived, rapidly turned over populations. The resident immune cells of the brain and spinal cord (called microglia) are a uniquely long-lived immune cell population. We seek to understand how the environment in which microglia reside in dictate their cell identity and functions.
Expanding the Neuroimmunology Toolbox
Immune cells exist in a spectrum of cell identities and states, which can vary and rapidly shift. We are using transcriptomics and histology to inform and build tools for labeling and manipulating immune cells in diverse disease and injury contexts.
Klatt Shaw Lab 